Typically when an individual orders one or more items from an online retailer that online retailer assigns the fulfillment of that order to one or more nodes, which can be any combination of fulfillment centers, retail stores that are capable from fulfilling orders from the retail stores themselves, or any other entities holding inventory that are capable of fulfilling orders themselves This assignment typically only takes into account availability of the ordered item or items at the nodes, or the shipping cost of the ordered item or items from the nodes. This assignment also typically proceeds through a full decision process for each order regardless of type of items ordered or number of items ordered.
The typical assignment cannot differentiate between orders that can be safely fulfilled by a simplified fulfillment deciding engine and orders that can most likely only be optimally fulfilled by a full fulfillment deciding engine. A simplified deciding engine can be more efficient and much less resource-intensive, but incapable of finding the most cost-effective assignment for all orders.
What is desired is a system and method that can determine whether and how a current order can be safely fulfilled by a simplified fulfillment deciding engine or should instead be fulfilled by a full fulfillment deciding engine.